Metal Additive Manufacturing Conference 2018

Besides the technology of Selective Laser Melting (SLM, 3D Metal Printing) which is becoming more and more popular, the Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) technology is another and complementary technology for additive manufacturing of metallic components. Being also a welding process in principle, LMD manufactured parts succeed in macroscopically needed properties (hardness, density, Young’s modulus,…) While SLM scores with its unrivalled accuracy and precision, LMD allows the combination of different materials and a much more less complicated powder handling. Starting with the principles of LMD, examples both from the field of component repair and entire additive manufacturing including materials combinations are presented, and the two technologies are compared with regard to their individual strengths and limitations.